A 19-year-old Wadsworth teen is in custody after police say he broke into two cars and stole a handgun from each car, and it all happened on the same street.
Jacob T. Newton, 19, of the 39600 block of North Delany Road in Wadsworth, was arrested and charged with two counts of burglary to a motor vehicle, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of possession of a firearm without a FOID card.
Lake County Sheriff Sgt. Christopher Covelli said that on July 31, a homeowner in the 14000 block of West August Zupec Drive in Wadsworth reported that one of his vehicles that was parked in his driveway was burglarized overnight.
Covelli said that a handgun was among the items stolen.
A second homeowner on the same street also reported that his vehicle was burglarized and a gun was stolen, Covelli added.
Police said that Newton was caught on home surveillance video during one of the burglaries. The video was shared on social media and several leads were generated, authorities said.
Police transported Newton on August 1 to meet with detectives who determined thatย he was responsible for the two vehicle burglaries. Both of the guns stolen during the burglaries were recovered.
Newton was released after posting 10 percent of his $50,000 bond. He is due back in court on August 9.
The handguns were loaded, uncased and left in unlocked vehicles in the 14000 block of August Zupec. The gun owners that left these handguns have acted irresponsibly and should have their privilege to own a hand gun revoked. In addition the FOID and Concealed Carry permits should be revoked. They make the neighborhood unsafe by storing weapons this way.
Over the past 30 days we have contacted Detective Young and Sgt Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff Department asking for the gun owners to be charged. No charges yet.
We have called Sgt Bayliff of the Illinois State Police FOID Unit to investigate and revoke privileges. No action taken.
The Lake County States Attorney will not press charges.
We have asked District 4 Brent Paxton and District 2 Diane Hewitt Lake County Board members to ask the departments to take action for the safety of the community. No action taken.
We have contacted our local Congressional Leaders and will forward this on to the Illinois Attorney Generals Office for action.
Hopefully, some appropriate action will be taken in our community to ensure that gun owners secure their weapons and ammunition properly in accordance with Illinois law.
Hopefully it will not take a death of someone by a handgun in the 14000 block of August Zupec for those in appointed position of authority to act in the interest of community safety.
Our son is in jail for burglary and illegal use of a weapon- as he walked home with them. He had immediately made arrangements the next morning to return one handgun and was going to return the second when the Lake County deputies came to the house and took him to the police station. Jacob is in Substance Abuse treatment and had not taken his medication the evening before. When this happens- he makes a very poor decision of which he is paying the price for. Had the guns not been there, Jacob would not have taken them.
This is a prime case of how guns get into the hands of those that should not have them. I urge you to contact your local legislators and law enforcement urging them to act on the second crime in this case as well as the first.